SATURDAY NATION March 29, 2014 Sport 37 Roy Gachuhi, a former Nation Media Group sports reporter, writes for The Content House. @contenthouseKE Mulamba’s was a hidden character. He was a self-effacing man but he always quickly imposed himself on a game and could produce bursts of genius out of the blue and score some extraordinary goals FILE | NATION The Crown Paints-sponsored AFC Leopards pose in this 1987 team picture. Right: AFC Leopards goalkeeper John Busola hoist’s high the 1991 Moi Golden Cup after helping his team beat arch-rivals Gor Mahia 1-0 in the final. Leopards conceded just one goal the entire competition. ball. He was not a coward and made it is his signature style to run at defenders. Players who hang long on the ball tend to have a higher than normal rate of incurring injuries because of the contacts with defenders. But for a man with a predilection to toying around with his markers, Joe Kadenge did not sustain any more the number of injuries than the most cautious players. Like Kadenge, the strength of Jonathan Niva’s personality went beyond the pitch. He got people and players to talk about him constantly whether in admiration or as critics. It is he who was in the middle of the show and other people reacted to his actions of omission or commission. For as long as AFC Leopards exists, Niva’s name will last. It is interesting to listen to Murila’s view about Daniel Anyanzwa. He succeeded him as sweeper and debate is eternal as to who was a greater player – the tall, slow moving but astute reader of every forwards’ moves in the mould of The Kaizer (Emperor) Franz Beckenbauer of the 60s and 70s or the fast, clean tackling former Njoro High School forward who would do nine years for Harambee Stars in 70s and 80s. Not least interested are the children of these greats. Gamaliel Hassan Alukwe Anyanzwa wrote to me some time ago and said: “In your article, you mentioned about Murila “Controller” taking over from the legendary Daniel Anyanzwa. I am interested in the comparison between these two great players. I do have an obvious bias though since Dan was my father.” I asked Murila: “If you were Harambee Stars coach and had to choose between Josephat Murila and Daniel Anyanzwa, who would you go for?” “Daniel Anyanzwa,” he said and proceeded to expound. “He was a wonder, very calm, relaxed all the time. He had a hard tackle but he was not a rough player. Anyanzwa could carry the whole team alone; you beat Niva, you beat Moses Wabwayi but you’ll find Anyanzwa covering them and you won’t pass. That is what he used to do. He was a fast thinker, and a very good one at that. “My approach to the game and his were different. He was a hard player while I was fast. I used my athletic power to get into the AFC system. In high school and at Abeingo, “I used to play up front. I was also an athlete in school. High speed was my strong position. I admired Anyanzwa and would certainly select him over myself on the basis of his physical power and ability to dispossess even the fastest forwards.” This is not unexpected of Murila, the legendary Controller. He marshalled his defence with composure and fast reaction and made a redoubtable duo with the late Shadrack Oyando at stopper. With Abbas behind them and flanked by Patrick Shilasi or 5-4 AFC Leopards’ epic victory over Ghana’s Asante Kotoko in an African Cup Winners Cup quarter-final at Nyayo Stadium Mickey Weche and Pius Masinza, the Ingwe defence was strong and mobile. It is the defence we missed when SuperSport came calling. He was the quintessential team player, always at hand in support and quite often the coolest head on the pitch. In all the years I covered him, I don’t remember a card of any colour coming his way from the referee. Enough AFC faithful who know place him a cut above Anyanzwa but whatever the case may be, it just shows how rich a talented playing force AFC Leopards have packed over these decades. This is the source of the angst among the multitudes of their followers who cannot be consoled by the massive acreage of editorial space given to the club in the newspapers these days. Results and results alone are what matters. The massive success achieved first by McDonald Mariga and currently by Victor Mugubi in Europe is part of the Ingwe heritage. The father of the two boys, Noah Wanyama, known to fans and sports writers of his day as Landi Mawe, was Murila’s team mate at AFC Leopards. Wanyama played for Harambee Stars at both Number 10 and Number 11. This is how Murila remembers him: “I am grateful to Wanyama for the encouragement he gave me when I joined AFC. He was big hearted. He used to play in midfield in an attacking role. Later he switched to the left wing. He had the power to go back and forth and I have to say we lack that kind of player in Kenya today.” Murila’s generation worked under a small, strong willed Ugandan coach named Robert Kiberu. He imposed a severe discipline and was fanatical about physical fitness. Those who remember the Leopards team of that era recall its great endurance; one quite a few occasions its wins were achieved in the last quarter of the match when opponents strength was wilting. Kiberu was at the same time a father figure to the players of Ingwe. He could easily tell when one was not concentrating on training because he was preoccupied with personal issues. Uncannily, one of his players told me, he surprised a few of the boys by calmly telling them that that minor ailment they were suffering from there below could and should be fixed as a matter of urgency because it was an impediment to the well being of man and team. Gerry Saurer was a professional hotelier and amateur football coach. He motivated his players with gifts. ‘Take this walkman,’ he would tell a player in conspiratorial tones after pulling him aside. ‘I bought it only for you. Don’t tell anyone else. I just want you to know that you are a very special player and want nothing but that the best from you.’ He would do the same with a wrist watch to another player and a free room at the 680 Hotel where he was General Manager. Every player thus thought he was special. Only later would they discover that they all had gifts and inducements of one kind or the other which they were not supposed to mention to their team mates. He was a hugely popular coach. Chris Makhoha was a scientist. He taught mathematics and physics at Kakamega High School, the nursery school of AFC Leopards famed as the Green Commandoes. His coaching tactics were based on scientific principles and under him, Leopards played like Germany. After their great continental ex- ploits of the 1980s, Ingwe steadily became a looted treasure and in 2006, the club was relegated to the provincial league. It took the supernatural faith and persistence of a handful of officials to get it back to the Premier League. And then that set of officials was booted out when fortunes changed for the better. There is no evidence today that Ingwe will join the ranks of the old African sides which routinely contest Caf’s various trophies any time soon. It is a sports club without abode. One imagines that when officials must fill an official form that requires entry of the permanent address, someone writes down a mobile phone number. Or an e-mail address. Or Twitter. Or Facebook. What a crying shame. A club worth its name should have a roof over its head. For being unable to harness the tremendous human resources of Ingwe’s teeming multitudes, its officers through the last 50 years deserve a zero, one big enough to cover the circumference of the full moon. But the players deserve our unreserved gratitude. They have made us happy. They are national treasures. They are ours – forever. gachuhiroy@gmail.com